Gravestones, pictures in brass or glass and sculptures of whole families are just some of the ways the dead are remembered in churches across Norfolk. Find out more in a new Norwich lecture series.

Eastern Daily Press: The Churches Trust are trying to keep redundant places of worship alive in the city. St Martin at Palace. Picture: ANTONY KELLYThe Churches Trust are trying to keep redundant places of worship alive in the city. St Martin at Palace. Picture: ANTONY KELLY (Image: ARCHANT NORFOLK PHOTOGRAPHIC © 2005)

From gravestones to grinning skeletons, ways of remembering the dead across the centuries are the focus of a day-school at a new history centre.

The Centre for Parish Church Studies has been opened by the Norwich Historic Churches Trust in the church of St Martin-at-Palace, Norwich.

The first day school of its first lecture season will be led by renowned church historian John Vigar.

Commemorating the Dead will explore some of the many different types of memorials found in Norfolk churches, including grave stones, stone and wooden effigies, Elizabethan and Tudor sculptures, post-Reformation memorial slabs, First World War battlefield crosses and some of the medieval brasses, rood screens and stained glass created as memorials.

Dr Nick Groves, director of the new centre, said: 'We're delighted to be opening our first full annual lecture programme with John's day school about the commemoration of the dead. 'Memorials are all around you when you visit a church and I am sure that all attendees will gain a greater understanding and appreciation of these beautiful and often poignant monuments to our predecessors.'

The 2018 lecture series also includes a day focusing on traditional church building techniques in March, and church interiors in May. Two half days on June 16 introduce an A-Z of saints, and how they are depicted in church art, and then look at some of the shrines, pilgrims and miracles of medieval East Anglia.

The final day, in November, looks at the changing uses of church buildings, which will include several examples of how Norwich has been at the forefront of preserving redundant churches – including the venue itself.

Medieval St Martin-at-Palace is now the headquarters of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust, which looks after 18 churches in Norwich no longer used for parish worship – ranging from theatres and art studios to shops.

Commemorating the Dead is at St Martin-at-Palace, Palace Plain, Norwich, on Saturday, February 3, 10am-4pm. For tickets (£30) and full details of the 2018 programme contact education@norwich-churches.org or 01603 611530 or visit www.nhct-norwich.org/cpcs